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The Future of Miniature Ball Bearing 2011-12-14
Micro-Electro-Mechanical-Systems, called MEMS, are millimeter-scale devices, on the scale of a grain of rice, that mimic larger devices.
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Over the last few years, tiny turbines have been built in research labs that generate several watts of power on a continuous basis. Such devices will become an alternative to batteries in handheld electronic devices. And, because mechanical movement is involved, micro-miniature ball bearings at scales never before imagined, must be designed, made, and tested.
In 1997, a millimeter-size jet engine was built using stainless steel ball bearings 285 micrometers, or about 1/100", in diameter -- the smallest ball bearings in the world at that time. Upon testing, the engine produced a thrust-to-weight ratio ten times better than a full-size engine! Put a thousand or ten thousand of these tiny jet engines together under the control of a computer, and you'd have a power source that, though tiny, would still be powerful enough to lift considerable weight.
Most MEMS are created by a photo-lithography process, and it was difficult to incorporate metallic balls, even tiny ones, into MEMS devices. However, etching techniques were developed in the early 2000s that create a silicon trace to encase ball bearings as small as 150 micrometers, the size of dust particles. Though done in a lab, this process seems to be easily scalable to commercial manufacturing processes.
These proof-of-concept experiments in labs worldwide will soon lead to commercial manufacture of miniature motors and generators that can be fit into other larger devices as power supplies. Injectable pumps could be built to float along the bloodstream to allow efficient dispensing of drug dosages. The military is particularly interested in micro-power generators and tiny rotating sensor arrays that could be incorporated into a soldier's clothing.
So, because these MEMS devices depend so much on tiny ball bearings, the ball bearing industry will soon progress from miniature ball bearings to the micro-miniature -- who knows what devices will spring forth from that endeavor?
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